Something I heard Randy Couture say in the film "Striking Truth" stuck with me a while back. he said -
"Fighting is 90% psychological and 10% physical, yet as athletes our training is 90% physical and 10% psychological. Its backwards."

Having found myself studying CMA recently and having plenty of time on my hands I started to look into "Zen".

After reading a number of books and articles online the whole concept has fascinated me somewhat.

"Zen" it sounds like some kind of mystic BS, but actually we have all seen it countless times over the years and have likely experienced it, it has been especially noticeable in sports.

Thing thing about Zen is that by trying to attain it you are in fact pushing it further away. The best way I can describe it is that it is like what we call "Natural Instincts" , if someone throws a ball at your face then you catch it, you dont think about it, you dont analyse how you are going to catch it or what you will do after you catch it, you just catch it....If you had started to think about what happens if you miss the ball or how you are going to catch it or what you are going to do after you catch it...if you fill your mind with those thoughts then you are likley to have a slower reaction time and end up missing the ball.
Zen is to think without thinking.

Zen is often associated with meditation and being able to empty your mind, again that sounds like more mystical BS, but when you think about it the reason for meditation is to relax the body and empty the mind, to clear your head of all the thoughts, the worries that stand in your way of you just "being".

I believe you often see it in great athletes, athletes who are so confident of victory that the outcome of the fight doesn't even enter their mind, their confidence makes them relax and they have no distractions in their mind, the victory just happens, and in turn their confidence increases and so on, I think that is a major factor in "Creating champions".....I think the same can apply to entire teams or squads of players.

There seems to be a belief that you can cultivate an environment to obtain Zen, although you cant just "Get it"...and who knows, trying to cultivate it may just be counter productive...almost like saying "Dont think about a Pink Elephant".....

The documentary "Striking Truth" showed David "The Crow" , a very gifted athlete but always over thinking his fights, he said that he said when he used to fight for fun he became champion, but as soon as the fighting started to pay bills and bring with it other stresses then he started to find it really difficult and over think everything to the point he would just freeze in the ring.

So I guess Zen could also be the metal capability to deal with pressure.

Ok So I'm going to post this here, it was a review I did for one of my comparative religion classes, I focused on flow states and lived religion/spirituality (what have you) this is one of the smaller assessment pieces I did.
A bit more background: I did majors in writing and studies in religion, working on building a framework for Lived Religion/Spirituality within Western Martial Arts, even though these are normally devoid of a religious framework as found in a lot of Eastern Martial arts. I've tried to keep this based on personal experience, talks with training partners, academic evidence etc, but it's a little explored area inside sport psychology just due to the difficulty of recording biological outputs in a combat based sport (well it was when I was researching and writing actively 3-4 years ago).

This is a smaller essay from my work to flesh out basic components a bit more (turned out my 3rd year class had no idea who Bruce Lee was and had not seen the Matrix...this was an uphill battle), I've done a couple of lectures, some seminars, and larger work based around similar ideals, so take a look and look forward to some feedback! I can dig some of the bigger ones up if you guys are keen.
Review of Advance Martial Arts Academy
Rowan "Mr.Miyagi" Lines

This essay is an exploration and review of a martial arts academy and the types of altered states of consciousness (ASC) and trance states that could be accessed during the physical training of the class. Sources are minimal in this area of research, but they have been used where applicable in the discussion of the different types of ASC and how they can be accessed.

The place that was observed, as a place of trance and altered states, was Advance Martial Arts (AMA), a full-time martial arts academy and gym based near Brisbane's central business district. Advance Martial Arts teaches a variety of styles: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a ground based grappling art; Muay Thai, a kick-boxing art native to Thailand; boxing; wrestling, a combination of the Olympic sports of Greco-Roman and Freestyle Wrestling; and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), a combination of all the 'best' techniques from the other styles taught to provide a well-rounded self-defence in both striking and ground based grappling.

Classes, at AMA, are held at a selection of times throughout the week, providing a flexible training schedule seven days a week. Advance is aware that there are people that train there from all walks of life and experience, and, thus, the training provided is also heavily influenced by the other people you train with. Everyone is welcoming and friendly, and ready to help if you ask any questions. The mantra of all AMA classes is a simple one: "we teach only what works in the real world". Rules are set so students can train in relative safety; they know what is allowed and what is not.

Students learn how far they should apply a technique or how hard, with practice. Through the nature of learning through each other, training partners become empathically aware of what is occurring while they perform an action—of course, this also differs in certain ways depending on individual flexibility, awareness and experience.

Training is spiritual. Even if the finished product is viewed as too violent, or orientated as a violent act and is seen by most to take away from the spiritual ideal does not change the act of training. To train in a realistic setting, is to place one's self in a consensual environment with set rules to minimise all possible damage to one's self and others. Once a student has enough experience they may train in a way that is more indicative of a realistic fight-encounter, using full resistance, trying to perform techniques at a hundred percent speed and power. It is only in this way that students learn how to deal with problems with technique that may come up. Through these set rules a student is able to push themselves to the very limit—of endurance, strength, and mental focus—and possibly beyond to transcend their limitations, in a controlled environment.

The observed and experienced training session was the Brazilian jiu-jitsu open class, which runs for an hour, Monday to Thursday. The class begins with a basic warm-up (which may change day-to-day, but is fundamentally the same) of light cardio, running around the mat space; and stretches for major muscles groups that are involved in wrestling, thighs, arms, neck, and back.

After this, the class starts to do the fundamental hip-escapes: these are when you are on your back and you imagine an opponent straddling you, the goal is to 'buck' them off-balance with your hips, turn to your side with your shoulders lined up horizontally to point to the ceiling, and 'wiggle' to get your leg or legs out from their straddling position. A few laps of the 'shrimping' technique are done up the mat a number of times, start to finish.

After this, the class will focus on a technique for the night—repeating it during drills numerous times before moving on to wrestling rounds, this is where the techniques that have been learned can be applied in a resisting environment. In essence, the goal is to "drill-in" the importance of these basic techniques, so if in a time of crisis one will revert back to instinct and rely upon what the body remembers from all the repetitious training—the muscle memory.

Within the training it is possible to transcend the normal physical limitations that restrict a person, through altered states of consciousness and trance states. One can push on—and past normal endurance—while under extreme physical and mental pressures, and pain. The trance states that can be achieved during the physical exertion of martial arts training are both psychological and physiological. Through the repetitive motion in training it is possible to reach a trance state, similar to shamanic ecstatic dance.

Respiratory maneuvers, controlled breathing while in stressful physical situations; moving meditation; and rhythm induced trance are all states that can lead to Alpha or Alpha-like brainwave states (Vaitil 104-108). The Alpha brainwave is at a frequency of 8-12hz, which is indicative of relaxed yet focused sports activity (Griffiths 2). These ASC are being increasingly researched due to the importance they hold in sport performance increases. The Alpha brainwave frequency is similar to that of 'being in the zone' (Griffiths 1): the zone is a state where body movements seem to occur automatically and without conscious effort.

By the hundreds or thousands of technique repetitions the body goes through during the course of training, it can result in the induction of an altered state of consciousness (Vaitil 107). A practitioner of martial arts, through this repetitive intense training, can reach a key or peak state in which they can induce or enter an ASC, due to their constant physical and mental training (Devonport 103, Henry 395).

The repetitive motion and focusing of the mind on the 'task at hand' narrows awareness to the moment and action being performed, the mind is completely absorbed in the activity of moving and performing the technique that is being done. Speaking to a training partner and friend after training about what he thought of trance states during the Brazilian jiu-jitsu training he had this to say, "You know, I never really thought about it as religious, but when we are training there is definitely something weird happening. I feel different mentally, it's hard to explain or put a finger on, but something is definitely happening—I feel like I'm in a trance."